For the Greater Good
by upwiththebirds33
Summary: ***SPOILERS FOR CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD*** After the events of Crimes of Grindelwald, Credence needs some help from Newt. Featuring Credence, Nagini, Newt, Tina, Queenie, etc.
1. Chapter 1

It had only been three weeks. Three weeks since Credence had joined forces with the notorious Grindelwald. Three weeks since everything had fallen apart.

He had regretted his decision almost immediately as he realized that the older wizard would be fighting against the only people who had ever shown Credence an ounce of kindness. Tina, who had fought for him to be taken away from his foster mother. Newt, who did everything he could to keep Credence alive. And Nagini. What could he say to justify leaving her? They had agreed that they would run away from the circus together—maybe to London, or America. Whatever happened, they had agreed not to separate.

And he had betrayed them, broken the promises he had made. The knowledge of that betrayal hurt more than anything his foster mother had ever done to him. If there was an opportunity to undo all the damage he had caused, he would take it at any cost. He would do anything to go back and fix what he had done.

Anything.

—

Credence hated pretty much everything about Nurmengard. He enjoyed the mountains, but the people and the drafty castle… not so much. Grindelwald was always shut in his study, and Queenie was always in her room, leaving him alone. Although he did have his baby phoenix, the creature was rather moody and avoided him as much as possible for some reason. Maybe it didn't want to associate with a traitor.

He spent most days outside, exploring the mountains, and had found a tree with an old treehouse still half built inside. He had decided to finish building it and stored his few books and notebook inside. He had purchased the notebooks and some pencils during a trip to the nearest wizarding village with Grindelwald and Queenie on one of the rare occasions when they had ventured out of their rooms.

Which was nice, he had to admit. It left much more time to explore.

The mountains were beautiful, unlike almost anything in New York. Most days he would pack a lunch and explore, or else hide in the treehouse and read or write. He had (secretly) bought a copy of _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and a beginner's book of spells. The former he used to identify some of the magical creatures in the woods; the latter was for teaching himself some basic spells. He would've asked Grindelwald, but was wary of intruding, and he didn't know Queenie well enough to ask her for help. He was making good headway himself, so he didn't ask anyone else for the most part.

The days were nothing special. Very little happened—until one fateful December morning.

—

The day started out perfectly normally. Credence snuck down to the kitchen, where the cheerful house-elves packed him a backpack full of food and a thermos of cocoa. He grabbed the paper from the front step and tossed it onto the table in the hall just inside. As he walked around the back of the house towards the mountain, however, he was nearly run over by a black coach pulled by skeleton horse things— _thestrals_ , he remembered. Grindelwald waved cheerily at him from the driver's seat.

"Good morning!" the man hollered as the thestrals pulled the coach into the carriage house. He strolled out a few minutes later following a mumbled conversation with whoever was inside. It was almost as if he didn't want anyone to know what was going on.

"Good morning, Mr. Grindelwald."

"Just Grindelwald is fine, son."

"I'm—I'm sorry, Mr.— I mean, Grindelwald," Credence stuttered. The older wizard smiled. "What was going on?" A flicker of annoyance and—possibly anger?— showed on the man's face.

"Oh, nothing. Just an old friend I had some business with." The answer came quickly. Too quickly. Credence nodded, going along with what Grindelwald told him.

"I was going to go explore…" He trailed off.

"Of course!" Grindelwald said. "Have fun. I'll see you later?" Credence nodded, then turned to walk away as the wizard headed inside, a determined look on his face.

 _What is going on?_

—

By the time Credence returned, it was nearly nine and he snuck inside as quickly as possible. He'd had bad experiences in the past with arriving past curfew, which he was not eager to repeat. He tiptoed up the stone steps to his room and shut the door. A fire was roaring in the hearth and none other than Grindelwald was seated in front of it. Credence flinched involuntarily as the man stood up and walked towards him.

"I—I'm sorry I'm so late, I—"

"It's fine," Grindelwald replied. "I simply had a question for you. My assistant sadly passed away a few months ago and I need help with responding to the letters from followers. Would you mind helping with that? Only for an hour or two each day will be sufficient." Credence was puzzled.

"Umm… May I think about it?"

"Of course! I would like a decision by… say the end of the week. That gives you a few days."

"Thank you, sir."

"Of course." He swept out of the room, his cloak swishing behind him, as Credence sat down on the bed. _Why does he want me to write letters? He's never had an assistant. Is he busy with something else?_

Too tired to contemplate any more, he pulled the blankets over himself and fell asleep.

—

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! Tell me what you think! Hopefully more shall come soon!**

 **Thermoses were invented in 1892: "Invented in 1892 by Sir James Dewar, a scientist at Oxford University. The 'vacuum flask' was first manufactured for commercial use in 1904, when two German glass blowers formed Thermos GmbH." As this fic takes place in 1927, thermoses were used at this time.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning, the ground was covered in snow. As Credence didn't want to risk freezing, he decided to stay inside and explore the castle some. He had a quick breakfast in the kitchen before heading off to the north wing. The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. He found a tower in the south wing, near his room, that had a lovely view of the mountains and spent a few hours there. After lunch he walked downstairs to explore some more—when he heard screaming. He raced down towards the source of the noise, but the doors were locked. He heard someone speaking inside, but couldn't make out the words—and then footsteps sounded near the door. He took off, sprinting until he made it to his room.

 _Grindelwald is a villain_ , he reminded himself. _Villains aren't good people_. He considered running away, until he realized that if he did so, he would be leaving whoever was inside the dungeon. Maybe he could sneak down later to see who it was?

—

At six-thirty the morning after, Credence woke up and pulled on a coat to sneak downstairs. He grabbed the master key silently from its hook in the kitchen and a candle from his room and crept down to the room he had found yesterday morning and turned the lock. The clock struck the half hour as he slipped into the dank dungeon, holding the candle aloft. Straining his eyes, he made out a small figure wrapped in a blanket curled in a corner. He carefully tiptoed over to the figure and set the candle down on the floor. The person stirred, then woke, flinching.

"Please… no." They—She— _Nagini?_

"Nagini?" Credence half-whispered. Her eyes widened.

"C-Credence?" Credence knelt beside her. A drop of blood trailed down her face, and Credence gasped.

"What did he do to you? What did he want?" He was suddenly angry; he felt the obscurus trying to escape and wreak havoc on Grindelwald and his fancy little palace. Nagini noticed, placing her hand on his arm.

"Shh. It's alright, Credence. Calm down. You can't do anything right now." Even in her current state, she was able to settle his frazzled nerves. He sat down, suddenly exhausted, and Nagini laid her head on his shoulder. They sat quietly for a few minutes—until Credence realized she was shivering. Credence felt her forehead, his hand coming away sticky with blood.

"You're feverish," he whispered, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach. Nagini sighed.

"I'm alright."

"No you're not. You need a doctor." The clock in the outer hall chimed seven.

"Credence, you have to go. He'll be here soon." Her voice was firm.

"Nagini, I can't leave you here."

"He'll kill you."

"No. I'm staying."

"Credence, you can't. Please?" Credence sighed.

"But—"

"Hey, it's going to be okay. I'll be alright, I promise. Now go, before he comes back."

"I—" He sighed. "Okay. I'll be back as soon as I can." He kissed Nagini's forehead, then slipped out, locking the door as she curled back up in the raggedy blanket. Sprinting up the stairs, he made it back into his room as Grindelwald strode down the hall and to the dungeon. He felt sick.

 _Why?_ he thought. _What did I do?_ _She could die—and it would be my fault_. He pulled the covers over his head and cried himself back to sleep.

—

Once he was sure Grindelwald was back in his study, he snuck down with a thermos of soup to the kitchen—and found the key gone. A chill spread down his spine. _He knows_. Suddenly, he realized what he had to do. He raced toward Queenie's room. When he knocked, she opened the door almost immediately. Queenie was curled on a chair near the fire, reading.

"Hey—Hey Queenie?" He slowly walked towards her.

"Oh, hey honey. What do you need?"

"Could we go to the village tomorrow? I wanted to get some new notebooks." The woman's face brightened.

"Sure! I'd love to go! I'll just ask Grindelwald and we can go bright and early tomorrow. Sound good?" Credence nodded, relieved.

"I'll tell you what he says, 'kay?" She was suddenly excited.

"Thank you."

—

He went to the library on the second floor after the conversation to find a book on how one could send a wizard letter. As it turned out, you just had to pay for a post owl and they would deliver your letter, which was quite helpful. Credence hurriedly wrote a letter to Newt.

 _Dear Mr. Scamander:_

 _Firstly, I am very sorry for joining Grindelwald. I regretted my decision the moment I arrived. I completely understand if you just ignore this letter—it's what I deserve. However, a few days ago Grindelwald kidnapped Nagini and he's torturing her. I don't know why. Please, if you care about her, get her out of the castle. You can leave me for all I care, but please help her. She doesn't deserve this._

 _If you mean to act on this letter, please come_ _soon_ _as quickly as possible. I don't want to be rude, but this is important._

 _Thank you,_

 _Credence_

—

The next day, they went to the wizarding village. As soon as he was able, Credence snuck away to the post office to mail the letter. He sent it with the fastest owl possible, which was actually much easier to do than he expected. Now all he had to do was wait.

—

 **A/N: there shall be a happy ending! Promise!**

 **Review? I love hearing from everyone!**


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